


Importance of First Meetings

by AQueen



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Fluff, Pre-Slash, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 23:58:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16984257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AQueen/pseuds/AQueen
Summary: In a world where your soulmate's first words appear on your arm only after they're said, Stiles receives his at only a little over a year old, when no one else is around. He grows up hoping to never meet his soulmate, but when asked about enemies while trying to become the Hale Pack Emissary, he may have to relive the first time he met his soulmate.Derek recieves his soulmark when he's five and a half. He didn't see them as they disappeared through the crowd and can't bring himself to care until he's a teenager and everybody is talking excitedly about meeting their soulmates, he's not sure he'll ever get the chance. When Talia is interviewing Stiles for their emissary position, he learns about a spell that will allow him to relive the moment. He might just get his happily ever after, after all.





	Importance of First Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little fic, it was going to be something bigger, but I decided to take the soulmate part of it out, but I couldn't lose these scenes! I hope you enjoy, please let me know if you spot any mistakes.

“Do you have any enemies the pack should be aware of?” Talia asks. The last thing they need to know before they fully accept him into the pack.

Stiles shifts under the alpha’s gaze, “I, uh, met my soulmate when I was very young,” he glances at her, eyes shifting away again just as quickly. “The words I have are not so nice…” he trails off.

Talia frowns, “You think your soulmate could be out to harm you?” 

Stiles shrugs uncomfortably.

Talia’s frown deepens, “There’s a spell that will show the first meeting with your soulmate.” she gestures at Peter who plucks a book off the shelf and brings it forwards, flipping through it.

There’s a knock on the door, and Stiles jumps, having been deep in thought about seeing the face that put these words on his arm.

‘I’ll come back for you.’ Who says that to random babies?? Stiles was thoroughly creeped out when his dad finally told him the story, he doesn’t really want to see who his soulmate is. It’s likely some creepy old dude, and how is that fair? How are they even soulmates? Stiles is a bit of an asshole sometimes, but not the _stealing babies_ type.

Derek pokes his head into the room, and Stiles stares at him.

“If it works, can you use it on me as well?” Derek asks quietly.

Stiles nods mutely, a little disappointed. Him and Derek had become friends the last few years as Stiles trained under Deaton. He had thought they had maybe become more, but if Derek still wants to find his soulmate… Stiles almost wishes he can’t but that wouldn’t be fair to Derek. He deserves to be happy, even if Stiles isn’t.

“Here you go,” Peter says handing Stiles the book, finger tapping on a spell. Stiles reads through it quickly. He steps forwards, putting the book on the desk as he concentrates, eager to get the ordeal over with. 

He quietly says the spell, waiting as the magic washes over him, and he’s thrown into a memory.

***

Derek looks to where his family is standing around his aunt, cooing at the new baby. He was the littlest yesterday and it’s just not fair. He knew it was coming but he kinda thought they were all lying. How did the baby even get out of his aunt’s belly? It didn’t even make sense! Derek was certainly never in his mommy’s belly, he surely would have remembered.

He slowly edges towards the door and for once no one is paying attention to him so he’s able to without anybody noticing. He’s at once pleased that he is able to sneak away and sad because he’d never been able to do it before which means the baby is taking all the attention.

He wanders down the hallway once he is free from the room and all the gushing over the stupid new baby.

He listens carefully as he passes by each door, waiting until he finds one with only one heartbeat in it. He glances around to make sure no one’s watching and he opens the door and shuts it quietly. He’s had lots of practice trying to be quiet, not that it helps. His family always finds him anyway, but he still tries. 

There’s only one person inside. A baby. Derek sighs. Why are there so many babies? This one looks bigger than his aunt’s though. Derek stands on his tip toes to peek into the crib the baby is resting in. The baby smells a little sick, like Daddy gets sometimes, or Aunt Elise.

He reaches a hand through the bars and touches the baby gently. The baby makes a small noise and flails their arms a little bit but doesn’t wake. Derek can sense that the baby is hurting. He concentrates really hard, just like he’d practiced with Mommy a little bit. Black lines run up his skin as he pulls the baby’s pain away. The baby sighs, and sleeps quieter, the frowny lines on their face going away. Derek decides the pain he felt was worth it for that. The baby is much cuter when they aren’t frowning. 

This baby is much nicer than his aunt’s baby. All she’s done so far is cry. This baby is bigger, and will be able to play sooner. They’re quieter, and probably sneakier. And smarter. The other baby is just dumb. Derek pouts for a little bit as he watches the baby. He wants them to wake up and play with him, but Derek knew better. He had met lots of other babies and he was never allowed to wake them up or play with them. So he waits.

Faintly he hears his name being called and he knows he needs to get out before his family finds him. He gently touches the baby’s arm again before he goes, “I’ll come back for you.” Maybe they could play soon, or Derek could take more of his pain. He doesn’t want this wonderful smelling baby to hurt. He turns away and carefully slips out the door. He quickly makes his way down a hallway and through some doors, away from the room he was in. He stops after a little while and looks around. He’s doesn’t think he should be here, there’s no one else around.

“Hey there, Mister,” Derek is pulled to a stop by a hand on his arm, “where’s your family?”

Derek looks up wide eyed at the cop who had stopped him.

The cop sighs, and crouches down in front of him, “What’s your name?”

“Derek,” he mumbles.

“Are you lost, Derek?"

Derek nods his head frantically, “I was bored so I went wandering around except,” Derek looks around, “I’m looking for the toys.”

“The toys, huh?”

Derek nods again, smiling. Maybe that’ll convince the cop.

“Who’re you here with, Derek? Your mom? Dad?”

Derek sighs, “Yeah, Mommy and Daddy, and my sister Laura. And my Uncle Peter, and my Aunt Elise, and her new baby.” The last part comes out very grumpily.

“New baby?”

“Yeah,” Derek mumbles, then he perks up, this cop wouldn’t lie to him, right? “My mommy says that the baby came out of my Aunt’s belly, but that doesn’t make any sense. Right? Can you tell me where babies come from?”

“The baby did come out of your aunt’s belly-”

“You’re a cop.” Derek interrupts, “You’re supposed to be the good guy and tell the truth! Why won’t anybody tell me the truth? If you don’t tell me the truth I’m going to yell!”

“Okay, okay. Where do you think babies come from, Derek?”

“I don’t know! But how would the baby even get out of my aunt’s belly?”

“How about we go find your family?”

“Not until you tell me where babies come from!”

“Okay, okay.” The cop rubs at his face, just like his daddy does sometimes when Derek asks a lot of questions, “There’s a bird, it’s called a stork. It brings babies to people who want them.”

Derek frowns at the cop, ”Where does a bird get the babies from? How does a bird even bring a baby to people?”

The cop sighs, “They wrap them in a blanket, and carry them in their beaks, and then the fly the baby to the new parents.”

Derek frowns harder, “How does a bird wrap the baby up? It doesn’t have hands.”

“The birds are really people who can turn into birds.”

Derek’s eyes go wide, “There are werebirds? Do you think they’ll take my aunt’s baby back?”

“Take them back? Why?”

Derek pouts, “I don’t like them. I used to be the littlest. We’ve spent all day in this stinky hospital. I wanna be outside! But none of my family will take me.” Derek scrubs a hand across his face, wiping at his eyes. He hates it when he cries, his sister always laughs at him and calls him a baby. 

“New babies are exciting-”

“Why? They’re not even big enough to play with.”

The cop chuckles, “Don’t worry, it’ll wear off soon I’m sure and your family will take you outside to play.”

Derek looks up at him through his tears, “How soon?”

“Soon. Now, let’s go find your family.” The cop offers him his hand and Derek takes it.

They’re almost at the door when Derek stops, tugging the cop to a stop. He looks a little surprised as he turns around and Derek guiltily thinks he may have used some werewolf strength. He doesn’t let up though, because this is important. “Can I tell my family about the werebirds? Or do I have to keep it a secret? Cause my family is very good at knowing when I’m keeping secrets. I don’t want to get in trouble with the werebirds.”

The cop smiles, “You can tell your family about the werebirds. They’re not nearly as secretive as werewolves.”

Derek stares up at him, “You know about werewolves?”

“Only a little bit,” the cop tugs on Derek’s hand and pulls him gently through the door as he talks, “They’re very secretive. I don’t actually know any.”

“Oh.” Derek stares at the floor as they walk. The cop is probably just a silly human, telling fairy tales to him. They come to a stop, but Derek doesn’t look up from the floor.

“Have you had anybody report a missing child?” The cop asks quietly and Derek peeks up to see him talking to a nurse. 

Derek hears a gasp, and looks up just in time to get a faceful of hair. He breathes in his mommy’s scent. 

“Derek! Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I found him wandering around in one of the back hallways,” the cop answers and mommy’s grip on him loosens a little bit as she looks up.

“Oh, Officer, thank you!”

“He asked me where babies come from. Wouldn’t believe the belly story, so I had to tell him about the storks, werebirds, as he calls them.”

Mommy laughs and looks down at Derek, “Well thank you again for finding him, Officer. We should-”

“Could I talk to you for a moment?” the cop interrupts Mommy.

“Yes, of course, just a moment- Peter!” Mommy calls, and Derek watches his uncle walk over, “Could you watch Derek for moment? I just need to talk to Officer-” Mommy trails off and looks at the cop.

“Stilinski.”

“Officer Stilinski for a moment.”

Peter smiles, “Of course, come along, Derek.” Derek follows after his uncle, glancing over his shoulder every other step until he stumbles. Uncle Peter stops when Derek can’t hear them anymore.

He looks up at his uncle, “Can you hear them? What are they saying? When will I be big enough to hear? I want to hear. Is the cop telling Mommy I was bad? Cause I wasn’t!”

Uncle Peter crouches down in front of him, “He is not telling Mommy that you were bad, you don’t have to worry. Why don’t you tell me about the werebirds?”

Derek brightens, “I don’t know very much, but the werebirds bring babies to people who want babies, like you and Auntie. They wrap them up in blankets and then turn into birds, stocks I think, and then they pick up the blanket in their beaks and fly them to people! Do you have any books on werebirds? I think Mommy should read them, cause that belly story was just silly.”

“I’m not sure if I have any, but I’ll try to find some okay? Maybe you and your mom can read them together.”

“Yeah!” Derek pauses for a moment, bites his lip, “Uncle Peter?”

“Yes?”

“Is your baby a,” Derek looks around and leans in closer, “a werewolf?”

“We won’t know until the full moon.”

“Why can’t you smell it?”

“Fay still smells like the werebirds, I can’t smell her true scent yet.”

“Oh.”

“Derek?” Derek looks up at his Mommy who is standing beside them, “You ready to go?”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go home, Aunt Elise and baby Fay need to rest.”

“Home? Can we play outside?”

“Yes, of course. Let’s go get your sister, and dad and then we’ll go.”

“Okay!”

“John!” Somebody yells and Derek turns around to see the cop running towards a woman.

“I thought his name was Stin-si?” Derek asks his Mommy, who’s frowning as she watches the cop.

“Stilinski, and that was his last name, baby. Like Hale is our last name.”

“Oh.”

***  
  


The scene fades and a new one takes it's place almost immediately.

***

There are so many people around and Derek is getting a little overwhelmed. Everything is loud and smelly. He can’t pick out his family’s scent, it’s just mixing with everything else and he hates it. But. They  _ are _ at a carnival so Derek will gladly put up with it for a day. The carnival only comes once a year after all.

He’s standing beside his mom in line for a roller coaster when someone elbow-high pushes past him. Derek sees him out of the corner of his eye. Not exactly a notice worthy occasion, it’s happened hundreds of times, but an elbow catches him in his thigh, hard enough to sting for a moment. Why do babies have such pointy bones? 

A loud “Scuse me!!” accompanies the pain. Derek doesn’t even bother to look. Derek hates babies. Fay is two now, almost three and everybody is still convinced of her cuteness. And! To make it worse, Mommy and Daddy also got another baby! Cora. Derek frowns. She’s only one, and she’s horrible. Mommy and Daddy spend so much time with her because she’s so little and can’t do anything by herself yet. She can barely walk! 

Derek scratches at his arm. It doesn’t matter right now though because Cora isn’t here, she stayed home with Aunt Elise. Fay is here, but she’s going on different rides than Derek. Derek is going on the good rides.

He stands on his tip toes, then leans to the side, trying to see past the line, see how far away he is from the front. But he’s too short. 

“Derek!” Mommy gasps. Derek spins around to stare at her wide eyed. “What are you doing to your arm?”

Derek looks down at his arm, it’s red, and bloody. The claws on his other hand are extended, digging into his arm. He quickly retracts them and pulls his hand back, hiding his bloody arm behind his back “Nothing, Mommy.”

Mommy sighs, “Derek-”

“It was an accident! I was just itchy!”

“Derek,” Mommy whispers, so quiet that Derek almost can’t hear her, “you can’t extend your claws in public.”

“I know, Mommy.” Derek whispers back, he’d had to practice, a lot, Daddy standing beside him trying to listen, “I didn’t mean to. My arm was so itchy. I didn’t notice the hurt.”

Mommy sighs, “Let’s go get you cleaned up then. We’ll have to go see Doctor Deaton later.”

“No!” Derek yells, “No, Mommy please. I want to go on the rides! I don’t wanna go see Doctor Deaton. I don’t like him. He’s weird, Mommy, please.”

“Derek,” Derek can hear the warning in his Mommy’s voice. But he doesn’t want to go!

“I’m sorry, Mommy. I want to go on the rides! Please can we stay? Please?”

“If you’re good we can come back, but I need to look at your arm first.”

Mommy takes his clean arm and pulls him out of the line. Derek glances back at it. They were so close to the front! So close, he could have been on the ride next maybe! Stupid itchy arm.

Mommy pulls him away from all of the rides, Derek tripping over his feet as he keeps glancing back at them. There are so many fun looking ones. Derek wants to go on them all. He gets pulled into the bathroom behind Mommy, the  _ girl’s  _ bathroom. Gross. Mommy wipes off the counter before lifting him up and making him sit there. She grabs some more paper towel, wets it, and starts to wipe his arm off. Derek stays still until the blood is all gone, looking around the room. He looks back at his Mommy, when she stops cleaning his arm but doesn’t let it go.

Derek moves his gaze to his arm, “Scuse me?,” he reads aloud. “That’s what that baby said to me. Why’s it on my arm?”

“Baby? What baby?”

Derek shrugs, “I don’t know. He was short and he elbowed me in the leg.”

“Derek, honey, did you see what he looked like? What he smelled like?” The second question was asked much quieter.

Derek shakes his head.

“Derek,” Mommy says, looking sad. Derek doesn’t like it when she’s sad.

“It’s okay, Mommy. He was just a baby, nobody important. Why are his words on my arm though? Is that why is was so itchy? Make them go away.”

“I can’t, honey. That baby was your soulmate.” Mommy looks at him expectantly.

Derek looks back, “Is that what you and Daddy are?” Mommy nods. “Gross. I’m glad I didn’t seem him. I don’t want no soulmate. ‘Specially not a baby! Why was it a baby, Mommy? I’m not a baby. Can we go back to the rides now? Do I still have to go see icky Doctor Deaton?”

Mommy smiles a little but she still looks sad, “Yeah, we can go back to the rides.”

***

Stiles opens his eyes after the spell has faded and doesn’t move for a solid minute.

“Stiles?” Derek asks, stepping forwards.

Stiles shifts his gaze to Derek.

“Are you okay? Was it...bad?”

Stiles shakes his head slowly, he turns to Talia, “I don’t think my soulmate is a danger to me or the pack.”

“How certain are you?”

“Very.”

Talia smiles widely, “That’s fantastic! Do we get to know who it is?”

Stiles shakes his head, “Not yet. I want to talk to them first.”

“That’s fair. Is it somebody you could see yourself with?”

Stiles shakes his head, “Yes,” he blushes darkly, and Derek is curious, “I- I don’t know.” Stiles continues, “I never thought I’d get this. I thought maybe… I don’t know.”

“Do you know them?” Talia asks, eagerly.

Stiles shakes his head determinedly, “No more questions. It’s Derek’s turn and then you can interrogate him instead.” 

Derek pales a little at the thought. He didn’t think he’d be able to have this either. And maybe he still won’t. Though he probably hadn’t said his first words to them, so maybe they’d take a chance. But it’d be creepy to track them down right? If they aren’t a part of the supernatural world. This could be a disaster, especially because Derek is maybe, just a little bit, falling in love with Stiles.

He mentally rolls his eyes, because there’s no maybe about it. But now Stiles knows who his soulmate is, and that they’re not creepy apparently. Which is good of course. Great. But. 

“Derek. Your turn.” Stiles looks nervous as he says it, fidgeting with the pages of the spellbook. Derek shakes himself and steps forwards slightly, standing just a foot away from Stiles. 

Stiles takes a deep breath and turns to face him, heart pounding.

“Are you alright?”

Stiles nods vigorously even as the scent of fear floods the room. Derek exchanges a look with his mom. She dips her chin in a tiny nod and Derek turns back to Stiles, who starts the spell. The scent of fear fades as he does. In the next moment Derek is being dropped in a memory.

When the second vision fades he stumbles backwards a step, and stares at Stiles wide-eyed.  _ Stiles _ . His  _ soulmate. _ Stiles is his soulmate. 

He steps forwards reaching a hand out, and Stiles smiles shyly. Derek barely notices as his mom and Peter leave the room, closing the door behind him.

“It’s you,” he whispers, hand hovering in the air between them.

Stiles is staring at the floor, “Are you disappointed?” He glances up quickly through his eyelashes to look at Derek before his gaze drops again.

“Disappointed?” Derek asks, voice cracking. “No. Never. I-you- You’re everything I dreamed of.” Derek feels his cheeks heat up, he really had not meant to say that. Stiles looks pleased though so he really can’t regret it too much.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he pauses, swallows once, “Are you? Disappointed?”

“What? Dude, no! How could you think that? I’ve been in love with you for y-” he blanches, “-ears. You weren’t supposed to hear that. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“I love you, too.” Derek says softly, stepping forwards to pull Stiles into a hug. He kisses him once, just a light peck. He pulls back and twines their fingers together, “dinner?”

“I’d love to.”

  
  


  



End file.
